Libyan journalists kidnapped after covering elections

July 10, 2012 5:35 PM ET

New York, July 10, 2012--Libyan authorities must establish the
whereabouts of two journalists kidnapped on Saturday and do all in their power
to secure their safe release, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
The journalists were abducted on their way to the city of Misurata after
covering the country's first elections in decades, according to news reports.

Unidentified men kidnapped Abdelqadir Fassouk, a reporter and cameraman for the private Tobacts TV
station, and Yusuf Badi, a cameraman for the same station, near the city of
Bani Walid, according to Hassan al-Gallay, deputy head of public relations at
Tobacts TV, and news
reports. The journalists had covered the elections in the city of Mizdah
and were headed back to the TV station, based in Misurata, the reports said.
Tobacts TV lost contact with the journalists at 5 p.m. on Saturday and reported
their disappearance to the Ministry of Interior five hours later, al-Gallay
said.

Tobacts TV has covered events in Misurata and greater Libya since
the uprising began, CPJ research shows. Fassouk and Badi, who were on the
frontlines covering the Libyan revolution, were dispatched this weekend to
cover the parliamentary vote, al-Gallay said.

The identity of the captors was not
clear. Bani Walid was a stronghold of former leader Muammar Qaddafi, while
Misurata was one of the first cities to protest against his rule and was
captured by the rebels soon after the uprising began in February 2011. Local
militias in the country often operate outside the law and detain people at
whim, putting them at odds with the government, CPJ research shows.

"We are concerned for the safety of Abdelqadir Fassouk and Yusuf
Badi and call on their captives to release them immediately as a humanitarian
gesture," said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. "Journalists are civilians
and should not be targeted for abduction just for doing their jobs."

Al-Gallay told CPJ he had received conflicting information from
sources in Bani Walid about the kidnappers' demands. He said the captors had
demanded the release of pro-Qaddafi prisoners in Misurata, but could also be
asking for the release of all pro-Qaddafi prisoners in the country in return
for the journalists' release.

On Monday, Al Wadi TV, a station based in Bani Walid, aired an interview
with Fassouk and Badi, who seemed to be in good health. The captors, who were
off camera, said the journalists had entered Beni Walid illegally and had been
filming without permission in a military area. Fassouk requires regular physical
therapy for injuries to his right shoulder, al-Gallay told CPJ.

In
February, CPJ documented the capture of
two British journalists by a militia in Tripoli.

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